April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
LATIN AMERICAN POPE
Hispanic Catholics rejoice
"She was yelling. I couldn't even understand what she was saying," said Ms. Tabora, who emigrated from Argentina 48 years ago. She was familiar with then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, but expected someone like New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan to be elected. "I cried, and I'm still crying. I can't believe it. The last thing I thought was it would be him."
"Everybody was really happy and kind of surprised," said Deacon Ramon Tapia of the Spanish Rosary group for St. Anthony's and St. John the Evangelist parishes in Schenectady. He is from the Dominican Republic. "It's possible that his papacy can influence people in South America who have become estranged from the Church."
Octavio Gutierrez of St. Anthony's, who is Nicaraguan, agreed: "I was surprised that the cardinals decided to cross the Atlantic to find the new pope, knowing that there were extremely good candidates at hand in Europe. I believe that God's hand was directly involved.
"Pope Francis won my heart in a few seconds," he continued. "I felt like he was saying to me, 'Don't worry, my son. God is in control and I am here to do what He wants.'"
Mr. Gutierrez is proud of the new pontiff's heritage: "He will be able to address Latin America's pastoral needs like no other pope would. Too many Catholics are being lost in Latin America to [other] denominations, and the need for evangelization and catechesis is great."
William Feliciano, who was born to Puerto Rican parents, attends the Spanish Mass at St. Anthony's parish in Troy. "When I first saw [Pope Francis], I was almost bewildered," he admitted. Seeing the pope's brief wave to the crowd, "my first impression was, 'He's too timid.' Then I got this overwhelming sense of happiness and knew this was the right guy."
That was before Mr. Feliciano even learned that Pope Francis was Argentinian.
"So many things went through my mind aside from pride," he said. "I see the influx of Catholic immigrants despite the perception that the Church is dying. [Hispanic Catholics'] voice hasn't been really heard. This is going to help them project their ideas and strengthen the American Church."
Rev. Jun Segura, a sacramental minister to the Spanish-speaking communities at St. Anthony's in Troy, St. Mary's in Crescent and Sacred Heart in Margaretville, had been rooting for Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, "but when I saw [Pope Francis] on the screen, I thought, 'Yes. This is the man.'"
Father Segura was "overjoyed" that Pope Francis hails from a Latin American country. "Maybe he will bring radical change. I think he will lead the Church to reach out to the poor and vulnerable when it comes to evangelization. Before, the Church was really confined in Europe."
Ms. Tabora gets emotional when asked what it means to her to see an Argentinian pope in her lifetime: "I love this country - that's why I stay here," she said. "But Argentina is where I was born.
"We're going to bring more people to the Church," she continued. "I believe in him. I think it's going to be a big difference with this pope."[[In-content Ad]]
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